Socket

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Socket \Sock"et\, n. [OE. soket, a dim. through OF. fr. L.
     soccus. See {Sock} a covering for the foot.]
     1. An opening into which anything is fitted; any hollow thing
        or place which receives and holds something else; as, the
        sockets of the teeth.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              His eyeballs in their hollow sockets sink. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Especially, the hollow tube or place in which a candle is
        fixed in the candlestick.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Electricity) the receptacle of an electric lamp into
        which a light bulb is inserted, containing contacts to
        conduct electricity to the bulb.
        [PJC]
  
     4. (Electricity) the receptacle fixed in a wall and connected
        by conductive wiring to an electrical supply, containing
        contacts to conduct electricity, and into which the plug
        of an electrical device is inserted; -- called also a
        {wall socket} or {outlet}. The socket will typically have
        two or three contacts; if three, the third is connected to
        a ground for safety.
        [PJC]
  
              And in the sockets oily bubbles dance. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Socket bolt} (Mach.), a bolt that passes through a thimble
        that is placed between the parts connected by the bolt.
  
     {Socket chisel}. Same as {Framing chisel}. See under
        {Framing}.
  
     {Socket pipe}, a pipe with an expansion at one end to receive
        the end of a connecting pipe.
  
     {Socket pole}, a pole armed with iron fixed on by means of a
        socket, and used to propel boats, etc. [U.S.]
  
     {Socket wrench}, a wrench consisting of a socket at the end
        of a shank or rod, for turning a nut, bolthead, etc., in a
        narrow or deep recess.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  socket
       n 1: a bony hollow into which a structure fits
       2: receptacle where something (a pipe or probe or end of a
          bone) is inserted
       3: a receptacle into which an electric device can be inserted

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  30 Moby Thesaurus words for "socket":
     alveolation, alveolus, antrum, armpit, basin, bowl, cavity,
     concave, concavity, crater, crypt, cup, depression, dip, fold,
     follicle, funnel chest, hole, hollow, hollow shell, lacuna, pit,
     pocket, punch bowl, scoop, shell, sink, sinus, trough, vug
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  socket
       
           The {Berkeley Unix} mechansim for creating a
          virtual connection between processes.  Sockets interface
          {Unix}'s {standard I/O} with its {network} communication
          facilities.  They can be of two types, stream (bi-directional)
          or {datagram} (fixed length destination-addressed messages).
          The socket library function socket() creates a communications
          end-point or socket and returns a {file descriptor} with which
          to access that socket.  The socket has associated with it a
          socket address, consisting of a {port} number and the local
          host's network address.
       
          {Unix manual page}: socket(2).
       
          (1995-01-31)